Rotary gas engine



May 15, 1923. 1,455,324

T. CUSHMAN' ROTARY GAS ENGINE Filed Sept. 5, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 K IN V EN TOR.

Tushman ATTORNEYS May 15, 1923.

T. CUSHMAN ROTARY GAS ENGINE s Sheets-Shet 2 Filed Sept. 3, 1920 INVENTOR.

7. Gus hnvan WA ATTORNEYS T. CUSHMAN May 15 ROTARY GAS ENGINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

7 To all 'wkom it"mm/ concern Fater'iit' May i, i 23. A

iii 1'1 canrroamn.

BOTY GAS ENGINE.

Application filed September a, 1920. serial ito. 407,931.

.Be it known that I, Tnav. Cusnmem'a citizen of the United States, residin at Anaheim, in the county of Orange and tate of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rotary Gas Engines, of

which the followin is a specification.

This invention re ates tointernal combustion engines of the rotary t pe and has for its object the provision o :a construction consisting essentially of a rotor carrying a piston movable within an annular chamber and abutments extending across said chamher and movable so as to permit passage of the piston, one of said abutments having a valvular means whereb an explosive charge may pass from one si e to the other of the abutment'soas to be exploded and act upon the piston.

The invention will be readily understood from the following description of the accompaging -drawings, in whl'ehgure l'is a longitudinal section through an'en'gi'n'e constructed accordance with the invention.

Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse sections on the lines 2-2 and 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the engine atthe difierent point in its cycle of o ration. T e engine is shown as comprising a main shaft 1 having afly wheel 2 fixed thereon. A stationary casing surrounds the main shaft and the fly wheel, said casing being shown as including end plates 3 and 4 connected by the-cylinder 5. The main shaft is journaled in end plates 3 and 4 as by usual antifrictional bearings 6. a A stationary casing 7' is received within the shellformed by walls 3, 4 andv 5, said main shaft 1 at casing is arranged in spaced-relation from annular chamber is closed at its res This tive ends by fly wheel 2 and b an interior an nular projection 9 of cylin er 5.

At circumferentially spaced points around chamber 8 the casing 7 forming the same is recessed as shown at 10 in order to form the circular recesses 11 and 12 in the chamber 8.

wall 5 to form an annular chamber 8.

Central cores 13 and 14 are positioned in the recesses 11 and 12, said cores being supported by the exterior shell of the engine. One of saidcores, saythe core 14, is of solid construction while core 13. is provided with a transversely casin being received around one suite of fly wheel 2. This extending chamber 15 formnular chamber 8. The sleeves 17 and 18 are provided with recesses 21 and 22 respectively which are arran ed to co-operatewith the pistons 20, 50 t at when the pistons are moved opposite the sleeves 17 and 18 the recesses will be in position to have the pistons received therein. By this arrangement continued rotation of the pistons and the sleeves will permit the istons to pass the abutments formed'by sai sleeves.

The recess 21 in sleeve 17, preferably,ex-

tends through the same so as to form a passageway communicating with firing chamber 15 when the sleeve is turned to such position as to, bring said recess into 'alinement with either end of firing chamber. The recess 11 1s, preferably, offset at each of its ends ad acent chamber 8 in order to provide passageways 25 communicatingwith annular chamber 8 and the passageway 21. In siniilar manner the core 13 is offset at one side of the firing chamber and at opposite ends thereof in order to provide passageways 26 forming communication between passageway 21 and the firing chamber.

Inlet and exhaust ports 27 and 28 extend through wall 5 so as to communicate with chamber 8 at opposite sides of the abutment formed by the sleeve 18. The inlet port ma be connected to any usual source of fue supply, and the exhaust port ma lead to alfiy su1table mufller or directly to t e atmosp ere.

The driving connection for rotating sleevesv 17 and 18, preferably, includes axle projections 30 upon said sleeves and journaled in the main shell and in casing 7 of the engine by means of antifrictional bearin 31'. Sprockets 32 are fixed upon the ax e projections 30, and a sprocket 33 is fixed upon the main shaft 1. A sprocket chain 34 extends around sprocket 33 and around the respective sprockets 32 for causing rotation of the latter and the sleeves 17 and 18 'in the same direction as the main.

shaft 1 and fly wheel 2. This sprocket connection is so arranged that sleeves 17 d 18 are rotated at twice engine speed.

The operation of the engine will be readily understood b reference to Figs. 2 and 4:. The sleeves 1 and 18 and pistons 20 are so arranged relative-to one'another that when the pistons come opposite the abutments formed by said sleeves they will he received in recesses 2122 in order to permit movement of the pistons past the abutments.

With the parts in the position shown in v Fig. 2 assumin the engine to be rotating in the, direction indicated by the arrow, a charge will have been drawn into the portionwof chamber 8 denoted by the letter A through the suction created in said chamber by the passage of the piston denoted by the r letter B along said chamber. As soon as the piston C moves beyond sleeve 18 it willcompress said charge within chamber A, the far end of said chamber being closed by sleeve 17. When the, charge is compressed recess 21 will have moved into alinement with the passage 25 communicating with the portion A of chamber 8 and the compressed charge will be forced through passage 21 into the firing chamber 15. Continued rotation of the sleeve 17 will bring the recess 21 thereof into alinement with the opposite end of firing chamber 15 and with the passage 25 communicating with the portion D of chamber 8.

With the parts in t is position the char within firing chamber 15 is exploded so that nesssaa movement of piston B along chamber 8 will at the same time force the exhaust gases in rear of piston C out of chamber D'through' the exhaust port 28.

Various changes ma be made without departin from the spir1t of the invention as claime v What is claimed is:

An internal combustion engine including a casing forming an annular chamber, a rotor having a piston movable in said chamber, abutments traversing said chamber and shiftable to permit said piston to pass, inlet and exhaust ports atopposite sides of one of said abutments, the other of said abutments being rotatable, hollow, and provided with a transverse chamber having a port adapted to communicate with said annular chamber at opposite sides of the piston as said abutments shift, and a firing means within said transverse chamber, the latter being arranged to communicate with said annular chamber at its respective ends through successive alinement of said ends with said port in the hollow abutment, so as to permit the passage of a charge contained in said annular chamber-from one side of said hollow abutment to the other.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

TRAV. CUSHMAN. 

